What was the latest party you planned? Did it have a theme? What are you planning?

We have a group of friends (9 of us in the core group, but the host gets to invite anyone they want to; there were 15 or so of us this time) who take turns hosting brunch. I thought we were all getting a bit tired of "the same old" breakfast dishes, and did a luau-themed brunch. Everyone fell into the spirit of it and wore aloha shirts and made dishes that were tropical in nature (the host couple makes the main dishes and the guests bring appetizers, salads, deserts, etc). It was a huge hit.

The best theme parties that I attended were when my son was in a summer camp program. The parties included NYC, Mexico, and Hawaii.

My other son was in a Gothic medieval architectural style camp. Everyone had to earn jewels to determine their status be it king, queen or peasant. On the day of their feast, they had games and short skit plays (sort of like charades). I guess in your case the host would be the royalty.

Baby Boomers parties are okay. People bring their baby pictures and have their names on the back. Everyone votes on who they think each one is. Everyone brings a food dish popular from the year that they were born. You can substitue pictures of car models for the year that everyone was born instead of baby pictures. (any two people born in the same year, just different car makes) People can dress in their favorite fad clothes from that time too.

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"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." --- Thomas Edison

I belong to a gourmet dinner group with a core of 3 couples and a single woman, and we invite others occasionally. We take turns hosting; the host/ess chooses the cuisine and everyone brings a dish.

The last one was Japanese. One of the other women and I made sushi (California rolls); I also made a Japanese shrimp/cucumber/noodle salad and she made tempura shrimp, asparagus and mushrooms. The hostess made Gyoza dumplings. It was great, and I discovered how easy it is to make Japanese food.

I like theme parties because of the potential for trying to cook and eat new foods, and the potential for conversation. They only work if you don't have any "cool" friends. I have a freind who is a virtual shut-in (debilitating arthritis) and we often (every couple of months) throw parties at her house, and usually go with a theme. I think the biggest hit was the Indian party. My husband and I both have pith helmets, and he went and checked out a book of Kipling poetry (all my friends are real poets and love all sorts of poetry). We ate Indian food, and the evening was punctuated by me reading Kiplling poems from time to time. We live in a historic district (the entire town is), and one friend is a real history buff (as is my husband) and she particularly enjoyed it because it was an evening as we might have had over 100 years ago (all of us live in houses that are over a century old). I have several younger friends (i.e., in their 30s) and whenever they come to parties like this they are amazed at how much fun they have. They bring their children (in the single digits), who just love it all.

I have luncheons for 5 of my friends of whom I've known since junior high. I usually give them a choice of menu(s) to choose from and the majority of the vote wins. The only bummer part is, one of the choices i keep offering when I announce these luncheons is something called Anniversary Chicken cooked with ranch dressing, terriki sauce, bacon bits, chives and cheese. They always pick this one. They don't like change much. I told them, next time I"m not offering that dish as part of the menu selection. They never want to try much of anythign else because as soon as they see that on the menu selection - they want it.

I can identify, Legend. I make a great artichoke dip, and every time my neighbor throws a party, that is what he wants me to bring. It is so easy and I have it memorized (don't need to measure) so I usually humor them and make it. But sometimes I want to try something new! It still is rather flattering when I show up and everyone (often people I barely know) yells, "Here's Claire with the artichoke dip!!! Yay!!"

Ranch dressing and teriaki sauce is an interesting combination. Do you just use the dry ranch mix, or do you use a bottle or make the dressing up first?